A Renton man has been charged with a hate crime after he allegedly threatened a group of people, including two minors, and harassed them about their race.
On April 30, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Kelly Preston Bailey, 52, whose last known address was in Renton, with hate crime and felony harassment. On April 28, in Bellevue, he allegedly uttered anti-Black slurs at a woman with two juvenile boys after she ran a red light and almost collided with him, and then he followed them to a gas station parking lot and held a firearm as he advanced toward them.
According to the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, Bailey was booked into the KC Correctional Facility on April 28 and was released on April 29 after he posted a $200,000 bond. His next hearing is his arraignment on May 14, where he will enter a plea.
Details of the case
According to charging documents, at about 10 a.m. April 28, officers responded to the Factoria Chevron gas station, 3724 Factoria Blvd. SE, for a call reporting that a man was walking around the parking lot looking for two juveniles while holding a gun. Officers spoke with the mother of one of the juvenile boys — the other juvenile boy was the son’s friend — who told officers what had happened.
Documents state that the mother said that she accidentally ran a red light while traveling north on Factoria Boulevard Southeast, causing her to almost collide with Bailey. She said she then pulled into the Chevron gas station parking lot, and Bailey followed them, documents state.
Documents state that while in the parking lot, the mother heard Bailey utter an insult at her, call her a slur and tell her that she would kill her. According to documents, the mother’s son and his friend, both age 14 years old, then got out of the car and saw Bailey holding a gun, prompting them to run inside the gas station.
The witness who called police said that he was in the parking lot when he saw two kids running, and he initially thought they were playing, until he heard them say, “He has a gun.” The witness said he then saw Bailey holding a firearm, and he looked angry as he was advancing to where the kids were, according to documents.
Documents state that when officers arrested Bailey, they found he had a holstered 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber, a magazine fully inserted and the gun appeared ready to fire.
According to documents, Bailey said he almost collided with a vehicle, and then he saw a Black male in the car, who pointed a finger pistol at him. Documents state that he said another male passenger then flashed what appeared to be a handgun at him.
Documents state that Bailey said that he pulled into the gas station parking lot to calm down. He said he didn’t realize that the car that almost collided with him was in the parking lot.
According to documents, Bailey said that he was scared to leave because he thought he would get shot, so he exited his vehicle, unholstered his gun and told the subjects to come out with their hands up. He said he then lost sight of the kids and reholstered his weapon, documents state.
Documents state that Bailey said that he probably did threaten to kill someone, but he didn’t remember it, and he insisted that he did not use any racial slurs. Documents state he also told officers that he had not taken his medication that morning or eaten since the night before, and had been previously diagnosed with intermittent rage syndrome. According to documents, he said he would apologize if he had scared someone.
